Replanting Daffodils and Tulops

Hi

I have several small pots that i had spring daffs n tulips in...the blooms beginning to fade and die away now...

Looking ahead to next sprng i was going to plant these into one big pot containter/planter box now and then put some summer flowers on top for summer colour this year ....

• Is it ok to do this now?

• Is it ok to cut the shoots/stems right back to the bulb level on the daffs and tulips before i replant them now ?

• How much of the existing roots should i leave on the bulbs - 1/2 inch or is it ok to cut off all the roots?

• Is it ok to just dump the existing soil from the pots into the big planter box./container or is it better use brand new compost ?

Thanks

 

I think the best answer is no, no, no ,no

I usually plant finished bulbs in the garden, they need to continue to grow for a couple of month at least.

I dont like bedding plants planted on top of bulbs at the best of times, let alone doing it now.

Dont cut anything off and either plant the bulbs, with as little disturbance as possible, somewhere else, or throw them away, they will not perform as well next year as they have this year.

 

As a compromise could you move the bulbs into a plastic intermediary pot of a similar size to their current ones and tuck them away somewhere for a couple of months? With mine, once the flowers have gone over I tip them out - there's usually a sizeable rootball that slides out of one pot and into another easily enough - and then replant them them in next year's pot come autumn.

I'd use fresh compost for the container but if you are planning to grow carrots/parnsips this year I've found they do well in spent compost.

 

I prepared half a dozen pots last September with snowdrops and daffodils, all have flowered well, the biggest pot is still in full bloom. After flowering I intended to just leave the alone, in a corner of the garden until next spring, then bring them out again.

Will they flower okay next year or do they have to be lifted, dried, stored and replanted every year? I assumed if I left all the foliage to die back naturally it would feed the bulbs and give a better display year on year.

 

That sounds fine I think @Tinkerbelle61 , though I read somewhere that it's good to feed bulbs in pots a couple of times after they've flowered but before the greenery dies back to encourage good blooms next year. I only tip mine out because I want to re-use the pots for other things through the summer.

 

There are Daffodils growing along the verges of lanes around here. I've noticed that once they've flowered they are cut down when the grass is mowed. They still flower again each year. I have some large Daffs in pots and don't want to remove them, but the leaves make planting anything else difficult. Wondering if I could cut leaves off mine, too ?

 

That's the annoying thing about bulbs, letting the leaves due back...looks so untidy . @luciusmaximus why don't you conduct an experiment and cut half back and then compare next year ....make sure you identity which half.
They use to knot the dying leaves way back when.....I can remember seeing my Mum do it when I was a child.....didn't do any harm as each year we had Daffs.

 

I always used to knot them, but then the advice here was not to, so I stopped. Yes, an experiment sounds like an excellent idea

 

@luciusmaximus ...did you find it made any difference to your daffs??

Interested to know what the outcome of your experiment will be.

 

I honestly cannot remember as it was a awhile ago. Perhaps I shall knot several Daffs and cut back several Daffs as part of my experiment . Do you not have Daffs of your own to experiment on?

 

Yes I have some, I just wondered if you notice any difference from when you use to knot them .

 

It was something I did when I first moved here and planted them. There are already Daffs planted by previous owners but I started adding more. I have a vague recollection of knotting Daffs that were in the baths and pots and I've had the baths 7-8 years. I'm not sure either how I knew about knotting them. I remembered, when I thought about it, that last year Roger cut down some Daffs that were actively growing and they did not recover. Not quite the same thing though.

 

Thanks @2nd_bassoon fed the pots with tomato feed today after giving them a good water and just before the hail arrived!!